Kiev: Ukraine`s Central Election Commission says opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has won the presidential election according to the final official count.

Sunday`s announcement comes three days ahead of the Feb. 17 deadline for releasing the final official results of the vote. It deals a major blow to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko`s effort to overturn the results of the Feb. 7 vote before they are made official.

A preliminary count of the votes showed Yanukovych defeating Tymoshenko by 3.5 percentage points after last Sunday`s ballot.

Tymoshenko said in a televised appeal to the public Saturday that the vote was rigged and vowed to challenge the results in court.